波利尼西亚的海上探秘之旅

波利尼西亚的海上探秘之旅

A Cruise to Hidden Polynesia

蓝蓝的天、一望无际的海、高耸入云的玄武岩山峰、成片的热带雨林……身处波利尼西亚群岛，会让你仿佛置身于天堂之中。

The Aranui 3 is not a looker. It is a1)cargo vesselthat, for more than 50 years, transferred goods from Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, to the remote islands of Marquesas, 1,500km to the northeast. It was not until the early 1980s that the Aranui 3 transformed into a cruise ship, transporting travelers to South Pacific islands that few outsiders had ever laid eyes on.

But the2)allureof spending 14 days on a cruise ship had nothing to do with the Aranui 3. It wasn’t until after a few days at sea that I understood why people from all over the world spend thousands of dollars to board a cargo vessel that only has wireless internet for five days out of two weeks. It has nothing to do with the actual ship; it has everything to do with the chance to experience the living history of hidden Polynesia.

Discovered in 1595 by a Spanish explorer, French Polynesia’s Marquesas Islands are so remote that the closest3)cosmopolitan cityis Honolulu, Hawaii, about 3,500km to the north. As the only ship to go to all six of the4)inhabitedislands, the Aranui 3’s role—supplying food and goods to the islands—has allowed the small societies to5)thrive.

Our first glimpse of the islands after three days of sailing from Papeete was a town. Three6)basalticpeaks soared high above the7)lushforests, the surrounding8)watera milky dark green9)huedue to the volcanic sand below. A three-kilometer hike

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Papeete（帕皮提），太平洋东南部法属波利尼西亚首府，始建于1818年，城市沿海滨建筑。它位于塔希提岛的西北岸，临太平洋马塔维湾。港内能停泊3.5万吨级的船只。

Tahiti（塔希提岛），港台译为大溪地，是法属波利尼西亚向风群岛中的最大岛屿，位于南太平洋。这里四季温暖如春、物产丰富。当地居民称自己为“上帝的人”，而外国人则认为这里是“最接近天堂的地方”。

Honolulu（火奴鲁鲁），又称檀香山，是美国夏威夷州的首府和港口城市。在夏威夷语中，火奴鲁鲁意指“屏蔽之湾”或“屏蔽之地”。火奴鲁鲁早期为波利尼西亚人小村，19世纪初因檀香木贸易和作为捕鲸基地而兴起。

1) cargo vessel 货轮

2) allure [ə΄lʊə] n. 诱惑

3) cosmopolitan city 国际都市

4) inhabited [ɪn΄hæbɪtɪd] adj. 有人居住的

5) thrive [θraɪv] v. 繁荣，兴旺

6) basaltic [bə΄sɔːltɪk] adj. 玄武岩的

7) lush [lʌʃ] adj. 茂盛的，青葱的

8) water [΄wɔːtə] n. 水域

9) hue [hjuː] n. 颜色，色彩brought us to a wonderful spot above the bay, below which there was a pocket-sized beach for sunbathing.

The town, where we stopped for a typical buffet lunch of beef, rice and banana pudding, was equipped with a post office, a bank, a school, a few stores and not much else. Most houses were one storey, box shaped and minimally decorated, with music playing through the open windows even though no one seemed to be home.

As we arrived the next morning to the island of Nuku Hiva, a rainstorm10)brewed. “It always rains when the Aranui arrives,” said our driver, one of many locals who11)ferried cruise passengers deep into the rainforest. Arguably the most popular island, Nuku Hiva is where authorHerman Melville注1jumped out of a12)whaling shipin 1842 and was captured by the local13)tribe. He spent three weeks among the tribesmen—one of the world’s few14)cannibaltribes. Eventually he escaped, and the tribe also disappeared.

On the island of Tahuata—the site of the first French15)settlementin the Marquesas in 1842—it was the people who were the16)highlight. As soon as we anchored, local children greeted us with17)garlandsof plumeria flowers. They sang songs and the locals hosted a seaside barbeque lunch, where they performed traditional Polynesian dances accompanied by Marquesas drums and18)ukuleles.

Tahuata is also home to Felip, a local19)tattooistwho, at the age of 48, has been inking for 30 years. While some historians believe the art of inking started in the20)Bronze Age, or in Egypt around 2,000 BC. The word “tattoo”originates from the Tahitian word “tattau,” which means “to mark,” and was first mentioned in explorerJames Cook’s注2records when he explored the South Pacific in 1769. As a unique souvenir, four eager passengers became part of a very small number of Westerners who can say they got a tattoo in the place where the name of the art began.

Our final destination was back to Nuku Hiva, where we21)dockedfor two hours to swim, hike or22)amasshandcarved23)trinketsto bring home. As we pulled away from the beautiful land, I realized what I would deeply remember were not only the Marquesas islands, but also the vessel that made the seemingly unthinkable trip a reality.

10) brew [bruː] v. 酝酿

11) ferry [΄ferɪ] v. 运送

12) whaling ship 捕鲸船

13) tribe [traɪb] n. 部落，部族

14) cannibal [΄kænɪbl] adj. 食人肉的

15) settlement [΄setlmənt] n. 殖民

16) highlight [΄haɪlaɪt] n. 最精彩的部分

17) garland [΄gɑːlənd] n. 花环

18) ukulele [ˌjuːkə΄leɪlɪ] n. 尤克里里琴（一种吉他型的四弦拨奏乐器）

19) tattooist [tə΄tuːɪst] n. 文身师

20) Bronze Age 铜器时代

21) dock [dɒk] v. 停靠码头

22) amass [ə΄mæs] v. 积蓄，积聚

23) trinket [΄trɪŋkɪt] n. 精美的小装饰物

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Nuku Hiva（努库希瓦岛），南太平洋中部马克萨斯（Marquesas）群岛西北部的火山岛，1842年被法国占据，现属法属波利尼西亚。该岛地势崎岖，多林木，无沿岸平原和边缘珊瑚礁。其狭窄的谷地土质肥沃，气候温暖潮湿，出口椰干和水果。

Tahuata（塔瓦塔岛），马克萨斯群岛的6个公社之一。1842年，塔瓦塔岛沦为法国领地。

注1：赫尔曼·梅尔维尔（Herman Melville），19世纪美国伟大的小说家、散文家和诗人，在20世纪20年代声名鹊起，被普遍认为是美国文学的巅峰人物之一。梅尔维尔的《白鲸》（Moby-Dick）被认为是世界十大文学名著之一，他也被誉为是美国的“莎士比亚”。

注2：詹姆斯·库克（James Cook），人称库克船长（Captain Cook），是英国皇家海军军官、航海家、探险家和制图师。他曾经三度奉命出海前往太平洋，带领船员成为首批登陆澳洲东岸和夏威夷群岛的欧洲人，也创下了首次有欧洲船只环绕新西兰航行的纪录。

阿拉奴伊3号并不好看。它是一艘运送物资的货轮，50多年来往来于塔希提的首都帕皮提和远在其东北方1500公里之外的马克萨斯群岛之间。直到20世纪80年代初，阿拉奴伊3号才被改造成游轮，接载游客前往那鲜有外人到访的南太平洋岛群。

不过诱惑我们花14天时间乘坐游轮的与阿拉奴伊3号毫无关系。直到在海上航行了数天后，我才明白为什么世界各地的人们愿意花费几千美元搭乘一艘两周里只有五天能连上无线网络的货轮。这与这艘船本身无关，而是因为一个能去体验不为人知的波利尼西亚活历史的机会。

法属波利尼西亚的马克萨斯群岛在1595年被一位西班牙探险家发现，它的地理位置是如此偏远，离其最近的大都市已是远在北边约3500公里之外的夏威夷的火奴鲁鲁。作为唯一一艘开往马克萨斯群岛那六个有人居住的岛屿的船只，阿拉奴伊3号所扮演的角色就是—为各个群岛提供食物和物资—让这些小社群得以繁荣兴旺。

我们从帕皮提出发航行了三天后，在马克萨斯群岛中第一眼看到的，是一个小镇。三座玄武岩山峰在茂密的森林之上高高耸立，四周的水域因水底的火山沙石而呈现出深绿色的浑浊色调。一条三公里长的徒步路径将我们带到了海湾上方的一个令人赞叹的地方，在那下面有一片可以享受日光浴的迷你沙滩。

我们在这个小镇稍作停歇，吃了一顿有牛肉、米饭和香蕉布丁的经典自助餐。小镇上有一所邮局、一家银行、一所学校和一些商店，没有太多其他设施了。大多数的房屋都是单层的盒型建筑，装修简单。虽然屋子里看起来没有人，却有乐声传出窗外。

第二天上午，当我们到达努库希瓦岛时，一场暴风雨正在酝酿之中。“每当阿拉奴伊停靠时就会下雨，”我们的司机说，他是众多开渡船运送乘客到热带雨林深处的当地居民之一。努库希瓦岛可以说是最受欢迎的岛屿，1842年，作家赫尔曼·梅尔维尔在这里从一艘捕鲸船纵身跳入大海，后来又被当地部落俘虏。他和该部落的族人呆了整整三周的时间—那是世界上仅有的数个食人部落之一。最终他逃脱了，而这个部落也消失了。

塔瓦塔岛是1842年法国殖民者在马克萨斯的首个殖民地，在这里，人们才是亮点。我们的船才刚刚抛锚靠岸，当地的孩子们就拿着用鸡蛋花装饰的花环来欢迎我们，并且欢声歌唱。当地人还举办了海边烧烤午餐派对，伴随着马克萨斯鼓和尤克里里的乐声，跳起了波利尼西亚的传统舞蹈。

塔瓦塔岛也是费利普的故乡。48岁的费利普是当地的一名文身师，从事文身行业已有30年。有些历史学家认为，文身艺术始于铜器时代，或是约公元前两千年的埃及。“文身”一词源于塔希提语“tattau”，意为“做标记”，1769年，在探险家詹姆士·库克的南太平洋游历记载中，它首次被提及。在当地刻下的文身是一个特别的纪念品，四位迫不及待的乘客便成为了少数可以宣称自己在“文身”一词的起源地刻下文身的西方人之一。

我们的最终目的地是回到努库希瓦岛。在此靠岸停留的两个小时里，我们游泳、徒步行走，又或是搜罗一些手工雕刻的精美小饰品带回家。随着我们驶离这片美丽的土地，我意识到我将深深铭记着的，不仅是马克萨斯群岛，还有这艘让这个看似不可思议的旅程得以成真的货船。